MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Why is everything so polarized now? No b...

Why is everything so polarized now? No balance or middle ground to anything


Politics, culture, society, personal values. Everyone now clings to one extreme or the other, with very few falling in the middle of the spectrum. It really shows how stupid most people are, even those you previously had respect for. Social media has really shown how bad this has gotten.

reply

Because we spend a lot of time in our social media echo chambers. We also don't really get exposed to other points of view on accident anymore (flipping through channels on TV or stations on the radio). Everything is on demand and most folks just watch or listen to what they want or what makes them feel good.

reply

There have been numerous studies on how people become more extreme. One that really stuck out was just putting like minded people in groups and seeing what happened. Both groups were just politically off of centre on either side. The more time they spent in those isolated groups, the more extreme they became. So this does demonstrate how those who only follow people who believe the same things they do, or read or watch news that aligns with them, the more extreme they become.

It happens with or without social media, but when it's so easy to block what we don't agree with, and social media sights have algorithms that show us what we want to see, it's easy to become extreme, even if we don't know it's happening.

reply

[deleted]

Lol, I haven't heard this since doing Physics at school.

reply

All proposed solutions are all one note too. Nobody wants to think beyond this-or-that or ponder complex, multi-facted problems and solutions. I blame tech. Too much, too quick, too distracting.

reply

And too much instant gratification. Nobody wants to put any effort into anything. Patience is becoming a thing of the past. We want it NOW!

reply

There has been a profound and deliberate dumbing down of all mainstream media information for quite some time.

reply

Mainstream media are addicted to “breaking news” but some do invite thoughtful guests and introduce complex topics on their shows. It is really up to viewers to take the time to follow up, find their research, check their sources.

reply

I daily listen to the radio in Australia and I have noticed they increasingly rely on "interviewing" ordinary members of the public to get a personal and anecdotal take on the topic of the day that focuses mainly on how the interviewee feels about it. It's rubbish really but no doubt very cheap and easy to do.

Once upon a time people employed as public broadcasters were intelligent and they knew their stuff and they would interview even more intelligent people who knew what they were talking about and they didn't waste any time telling you about their feelings.



reply

When reading a newspaper I tend to short cut down to the comments as I often them more in tune and intelligent than the article.

I think leaders today, whether it be business, politics or whatever are hopelessly out of touch with the people they are meant to be leading.

reply

A lot of people also play the man rather than the ball. For example a Left wing politician will say "We must protect our country and jobs" and the Lefties will be all nodding their heads and in agreement.

Conservative politician says "We must protect our country and jobs" and all of a sudden you get the protests and accusations of racism.

reply

As long as people are divided we're on the right track, the world was enslaved for too long when it was following only one master, whether it was science, news, politics, religion, that's for the herd mentality to have only one truth, truth is in the heart, not somewhere out there to be given to us, so every one of us is bound to believe something else and divide from others who believe their own truth, as long as we're on the path to the awakening of the spirit as a prime creator of subjective universe, therefore understanding and respecting why others live in and create their own universe. This is the time of liberation many of us have been waiting for for a long long time.

reply